DX Gas Station
by jaymeemj
Summary: It's been a year and so after all the drama that had taken place. The Greasers have resumed their normal lives, despite what had happened to Johnny, Dally, and as for Sodapop; Sandy. He had already given up on her, knowing that she wasn't going to return. A new overall head manager for Soda's workplace, the DX gas station, was introduced and surprise, surprise, he has a daughter.
1. Chapter 1

"Have ya seen the new manager yet, Soda?" Steve Randle pulled his key from the ignition of his worn out truck and he got out of it with Soda.

"New manager?" Soda asked, distracted from buttoning up his DX gas station uniform.

They had the afternoon shift and Soda, being himself, had slept the whole morning through, only waking up just in time for a minute's worth of breakfast and shower. By then, Steve's truck was pulled up in front of their house, todrive the both of them to work.

"Yeah," Steve said. "Ol' guy. Prob'ly 10 years older than our old manager."

"How'd you know?" It was rather odd for Steve to know the latest news be it at work, or around the neighbourhood.

Steve smirked. "I've seen him at last night's shift when you were at home—you shoulda've been there. He ain't bad. He ain't bad at all."

"D'you think he'd give us both a pay-rise?" Sodapop asked, smirking back.

Steve crossed his arms and wiped his greasy black hair back. "I could work my charm on 'im, y'know."

They entered the DX gas station's convenience store and the wind chime attached on the door rang. Billy Mike, the convenience store's cashier, who probably lives and breathes in that very DX gas station looked up from his magazine and smiled a chubby (and not to mention stubby) grin.

"'Ey, look who's 'ere," he laughed raucously. "My boys. Slow day today, huh?"

"Really?" Sodapop asked. "Damn, shouldn't have rushed here."

"Well, forget that," Billy Mike shrugged off. "Come 'ere, there are nice tv shows on today. There's not much customers anyway."

Steve grinned. He didn't hesitate to jump over the cashier's counter to settled himself next to Billy Mike. He took one of the lollipops displayed at the corner and peeled it open as his eyes glued to the small television screen attached on the ceiling.

"Hey hey hey, no free food fer yeh!" Billy Mike chided, but it didn't take long for him to finally ignore it.

"Come an' join us, Soda!" Steve invited, throwing a gum from the counter to Soda.

Soda caught it swiftly and threw the gum into his mouth.

"Comin'—"

The wind chime rattled again as the door swung open. A girl wearing a light white and blue striped shirt-waist day dress walked in. Her long beige blonde hair was down, except that her sides were neatly clipped up. She had no make-up on, revealing her somewhat squarish, admirable face.

"Hi, Billy Mike," she greeted.

"Oh, good to see you again, Lyn!" Billy Mike exclaimed, reflexively lowering down the volume of the television, catching Steve a little off-guard.

Sodapop cocked a brow slightly and exchanged glances with Steve. He had never seen anyone like this girl before. She didn't seem like the average Tulsa girls. In fact, he had never seen her around before, even back when he was still in school. She noticed Sodapop and Steve and she smiled and nodded in a friendly, acknowledging way.

Steve returned her a cocky wink which she had blatantly ignored. Sodapop rolled his eyes and was tempted to slap Steve if he only he wasn't behind the counter.

"So what can I help you with?"

The girl pulled out her wallet and placed a bill on the counter. "I just need to fill up my dad's car, that's all."

Billy Mike took the bill and kissed it. "Yes, ma'am!" He then looked at Sodapop, who seemed to be taken slightly aback.

"Wha—oh, right, um, yeah, right here." He detached himself from where he was leaning, pulled out his hands from his pockets (which he had not realised where there until he had to walk) and lead the girl out to where the gas pumps were.

They reached her car: an orange Pontiac GTO, and the first thing that came across Sodapop's mind was '_Soc_'. It had been almost a year since all the tension between the Greasers and Socs had been abandoned. But all that happened before was still crystal clear in Sodapop's head. It was a tormenting phase in his life, as well as for his brothers and gang.

"I haven't seen you around before," he said casually, pulling out the nozzle and sticking it into the fill spout of the car. "You new here?"

"We just moved here two days ago," the girl answered. She held her hair in place when a gush of wind came blowing at them.

"So what's your name? Lyn?" At that moment, Sodapop wanted to smack himself. Sure he was girl-crazy. He was used to being upfront and direct, and possibly flirty when it came to girls he liked, but it felt like he was meant to put up a certain standard of behaviour around this girl. She didn't seem like the other neighbourhood girls. She seemed out of place—in a good way.

"Marilyn, actually," she answered, smiling. "I just met Billy Mike yesterday when I visited and he thought my name was a mouthful. Thus, why he resolved to calling me 'Lyn'."

"How'd you want us to refer to you around here then?"

"Marilyn."

Sodapop smiled. He leaned against the gas pump and crossed his arms. "Well, nice to meet ya, Marilyn. My name's Soda. Sodapop Curtis."

Marilyn had leaned against her car as well and she looked up at Sodapop and grinned. "That's an interesting name. Do you happen to be related to Ponyboy?"

Sodapop's brow jumped up a little and he beamed, nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"I've been partnered with him for our school's Book Club," Marilyn explained. "He looks a little just like you."

"You don't look like a freshman kid, though."

"That's because I'm not," she corrected, "I'm in my junior year already."

Sodapop smiled at this. Marilyn seemed very nice. And pretty. And not to mention that they were practically the same age.

The fuel tank was quick to be filled up and before Sodapop could move, Marilyn had already taken out the nozzle and place it back at the gas pump for him. "So what brought you to Tulsa?" he asked curiously, not exactly wanting to end their conversation just yet.

"My dad's company assigned him here and the whole family had to move with him," Marilyn said. "We didn't like the idea of living separately. My dad is actually the new district head for the DX gas stations in Tulsa. The overall manager, basically."

"That's cool—wait," Sodapop stood straight and gave Marilyn a disbelieving face. "Did you just say new district head for the DX gas stations? Including _this_DX gas station?"

Marilyn nodded, completely oblivious to Sodapop's sudden discomfort.

"Marilyn!"

The both of them turned to look and an man in his late 40s, dressed like a proper working man, was walking towards them after getting out of a taxi. He had slightly balding grey hair. When he reached Marilyn and Sodapop, he glanced at Sodapop then back at Marilyn.

"Oh, hi, dad." Marilyn looked at Sodapop and quickly introduced, "This is my dad whom I was just talking about by the way."

The man looked at Sodapop and stretched his hand out for a shake, which Sodapop took, a little awkwardly. "That's very flattering to know that you've been talking about me," he said. "The name's Ralph Crowe. New district head for DX gas stations."

"Sodapop Curtis…um, _staff_." He seemed to be a little off-guard, awestruck perhaps. "So you're the new overall manager."

"That's right," Mr Crowe. "Thank you for your service for my daughter."

"My pleasure, sir." He almost felt like saluting him. Again, Sodapop felt like smacking himself.

"Unfortunately, I came to take my car and my daughter away for an appointment," Mr Crowe said humorously. "Please help inform Billy Mike that I'll be coming back to visit this station soon. You have a very lucrative and warm environment here at this gas station, Mr Curtis. Keep up the good work."

Sodapop didn't dare say that the DX gas station he and Steve worked in were very popular thanks to their—well, mainly _his_ looks. And he only knew this thanks to Ponyboy's observations. Two-Bit mentioned it once or twice as well when they were with the whole gang.

"Thank you, sir."

Mr Crowe turned to Marilyn. "Shall we go?"

Marilyn nodded. "Yes, dad." She looked back at Sodapop and smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Sodapop. I'd love to see you around soon again."

Sodapop grinned and nodded. "Me too."

With that, Mr Crowe opened the car door for his daughter before he nodded once again at Sodapop and got in. Sodapop watched the orange Pontiac GTO leave the gas station and join the rest of the passing vehicles on the street.

He smiled to himself. He was really looking forward to seeing Marilyn again.


	2. Chapter 2

Ponyboy closed the refrigerator door and uncapped his Coke. "I just don't get why you're so curious about my whereabouts today."

"Aw c'mon, Ponyboy," Sodapop said. "Does it hurt to have your older brother being a teensy lil' bit more concerned for you?"

Ponyboy raised his brows in an _are-you-seriously-kidding-me_ way. "Mhmm, sure you are." He drank from his Coke and sat on the dining table, opening up his book and getting ready to start on his schoolwork. He knew that Sodapop was a very caring brother. But he's been acting a little weird that day. Sodapop had been relentlessly asking Ponyboy about his day at school. With a strange emphasis on his Book Club, which Sodapop wasn't really interested in at first due to his lack of interest for reading.

Sodapop joined him on the dining table and gave in. "Alright." Soda hesitated. "There's this girl."

"Now you're talkin'," Ponyboy said, closing his book automatically and leaning against his chair, all ears on Sodapop.

"I just...wanna know more about her, y'know," Sodapop said, shrugging and trying to restrain himself from sounding too dreamy. "I just met her and I think she's very..._very_..." He struggled to find the perfect word to describe Marilyn.

"Charming? Beautiful? Captivating?—"

"Yes! Captivating!" He exclaimed, agreeing. "She's very captivating, and I don't know, Pony, I just talked to her for a lil' bit and I find her really interesting."

Ponyboy's face was scrunched up, deep in thought. When his brother was done, Ponyboy looked up, scratched a small portion on the side of his head and asked, "So how am I related to this again?"

"She's Marilyn," Sodapop said, slightly urgently. "Marilyn Crowe. You know? The new girl from your Book Club? The blonde one? She's your partner apparently."

"Oh! Marilyn!" Ponyboy raised his hands and let out a chortle. "You should'ave said so, Soda! She's a very nice person. What do you want to know about her?"

"Anything _you_ know about her!"

Ponyboy leaned on the table, into a thinking position. "Well, let's see..." He took a momentary pause to think before he opened his mouth to talk. "She moved from Massachusetts. She formerly attended this private Catholic girls' school. She was a part of this equestrian club. She told me she loved horse-riding during our Book Club sharing and I immediately thought of you and Mickey, but moving on, she mentioned once that she was Valedictorian in her previous school. She only said it because she was asked to share about herself. Hm, what else...?"

* * *

"Oh and that's the second of the Curtis brothers."

Marilyn regarded the picture carefully on the school's yearbook from two years ago. Sodapop had a cocky yet genuine and sincere smile, wearing a white dress shirt and slightly loosened black tie. His hair was gelled up perfectly for his photo and Marilyn couldn't help but wonder if that was the last he had dressed up so formally for a picture.

"That was his last appearance in the school yearbook," Bonnie Sullivan said.

This piece of information wasn't foreign to Marilyn. She had heard about Sodapop around the school hallways. Girls were gushing about him most of the time, making plans to make trips down to the DX gas station he worked in. Ponyboy was the one who talked the most about him to her though. He said how Sodapop dropped out of school to help their eldest brother, Darry, earn a living so as to allow Ponyboy to graduate.

Marilyn thought it was a very admirable act, and she looked up to Sodapop for that. She would never want to disown her education, simply because she was always dreaming of becoming successful in her future. And here was Sodapop, dropping out to give way for his little brother to pursue his dreams.

"He's definitely smart, both streetwise and somewhat academically, my brother," she remembered Ponyboy telling her. "He's just not a school person. So he doesn't really mind."

Marilyn closed the yearbook and handed it back to her good friend. "Thanks for showing that to me," she said, smiling appreciatively.

"Anything to make you feel more welcomed here!" Bonnie replied enthusiastically. "It must be different here since you came from a private girls' school but trust me, it's just as good, or even better when it comes to schools like these. You'll be able to meet the craziest and most unusual people ever and..."

Bonnie continued to give her supposedly heart-warming welcome speech, which she had recited to Marilyn a thousand times before already. But taking consideration of her effort, Marilyn didn't stop her. She listens attentively again and nodded where appropriate.

But inside, she was thinking of Sodapop. Her encounter with him was something she kept replaying on her mind. He seemed like a laid-back person. As if it was normal for him to just go out into the public and make friends! Well, that was her impression of him anyway. But nonetheless she found him interesting. She'd love to see him again, and she was hoping he would pop by at school to fetch Ponyboy and they could talk. And before she could carry on dreaming and hoping, Bonnie was asking her a question from a totally different topic already.

* * *

"And there you go." Ponyboy sat up once again and opened his book to get back to work. "That's all I know about her. It's not much, but you know, it's something worth knowing."

Sodapop was reclined back on his chair, arms crossed, deep in thought. When he looked up, all he could utter was, "She's too good to be true, Pony."

"The epitome of perfection," Ponyboy corrected, pointing his pen at Sodapop.

He knew his brother was just messing with him with the use of strange words that was meant to remain in black and white, not used verbally. He sat up as well, leaned on the table and looked up at Ponyboy.

"Do you need a ride home from school tomorrow?" Sodapop asked. "Let's have a lunch out somewhere before my shift at the gas station. Whaddaya say?"

Ponyboy rolled his eyes in amusement and smirked at his brother.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Soda, so we goin' now or what?"

Sodapop looked at Ponyboy as if he was forgetting something. They had agreed to meet up after Ponyboy's school so that Sodapop could somehow see Marilyn. "I'm just messing," Pony said, smirking up at his brother. "But really though – where are we gon' get lunch?"

"She's not here!" Sodapop groaned, his eyes shifting ever so frequently around the school campus for any blonde girl. "Are you sure she even went to school today?"

"I'm dead sure," Ponyboy said, lifting his hands in a defence. "Just stop worrying and, I don't know, be cool, I guess..."

Meanwhile, Marilyn had just finished talking to Bonnie, explaining to her the things she hadn't understood during their Algebra class. "It's not really that confusing, you just have to keep shifting the unknown to the left and solve it from the right." They walked out of the school building, having changed their conversation topic to something less mind-stressing. Marilyn was engrossed in recounting something that had happened to her to Bonnie. She was fervently making arm gestures to further liven her story and that was when her eyes had miraculously caught sight of Ponyboy at the corner of the school campus, near the streets. He seemed to be talking to someone else.

"Er, hold on, Bonnie – I just remembered that I still have to return a book to Pony." She looked at Bonnie and gave her a smile which encouraged her to go on without her. When she left, Marilyn took a sharp breath and tucked some of her hair behind her ear before she made her way towards Pony and his companion.

The boy with Pony had his back faced on her, so by the time Marilyn was close enough and Ponyboy caught sight of her, his face livened and his companion turned to look. _Sodapop_.

Marilyn did her best not to look at Sodapop. She busied herself into her bag before pulling out a book and handing it to Pony. "Uh...Mrs Geiger told me to give this to you when you left English AP," Marilyn said, hoping she wasn't stuttering. She could feel Soda's eyes on her and it sent slight shivers down her spine as she forced a smile on her face. "It's George Orwell, a fantastic read, actually. She's hoping you could do a book review of it by end of this week if it's not too demanding. She wants to get your book reviews published at the school paper, you see."

Pony's brows jumped as he took the book from her. "Thanks, Mare." And as if he had just remembered something, he turned to his brother. "This is my brother, Soda, by the way – Soda, _Marilyn_." There was a strained tone to his voice as he introduced Marilyn to Soda.

Upon turning to face Soda, Marilyn's face brightened. "Yes, we've met." She forced out the best of her beauty-pageant smile. "Glad to see you so soon, Soda."

Sodapop straightened his back as he buried his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Yeah, yeah, great to see you too. I was just fetching Pony from school...right, Ponyboy?"

"Mhmm," Pony muttered distractedly, already skimming through the contents of his book.

Sodapop rolled his eyes before Marilyn could catch him. "Anyway, we're heading for lunch," he tried, scratching the back of his head a little uncomfortably. "Wanna come with?" He took a deep breath, silently praying to himself for a favourable answer from her.

"I'd love to," Marilyn said, nodding fervently and flashing a set of pearly white teeth as she held tighter onto the books she was carrying. "I suppose I haven't got anything important to do right now."

At this, Sodapop smiled. "Great!" He ran a hand through his dark gold hair and pointed casually to the truck he borrowed from Steve. "Our ride's there, hope you wouldn't mind. Come on, Pony!"


End file.
